Did Obama just say "The Vindicator?"

It's not news that a national or statewide politician grabs at something local when speaking to a local audience. It connects. It attaches. It resonates.

So while it's a well-played hand, pardon us for being a tad bit surprised – not to mention downright giddy – that it was us that became local flavor for President Obama today when he spoke to workers at the GM Lordstown plant.

Relating tales of economic challenges in the last year locally and nationally, he offered:

"So if you picked up a copy of the Youngstown Vindicator back in January, you would have seen a headline that read "Worries mount in wake of layoffs." But just a couple of weeks ago, you'd have read a different story - "Good news at Lordstown is good news for all." We weren't the only local flavor. There was this about Canfield:

"Just as one example of many, over in Canfield, we awarded a competitive contract to a local company to repair a bridge on Route 11. That allowed them to avoid layoffs they were otherwise going to make. And that allowed local folks to keep coming to work, doing the work America needs done."

And of course, playing to his most local audience on the scene:

"I understand that the 1 millionth Cobalt rolled off the assembly line late last night."

This was in addition to all the local name-dropping he did at the start of his speech as he introduced officials and business leaders.

So the lesson: Obama reads The Vindy. (OK — it's probably just the work of a staffer who no doubt went into our archives over the weekend. But we'll take it.)